One told me that the company is using the opera music to “keep the beggars away.” Another said the opera is to “stop people from hanging around who cause problems.”īut why opera? Not that torturing people and trying to keep people from hanging around your establishment are quite the same thing, but in all my research I did on the use of music in torture (OK, it amounted to 15 minutes), I couldn’t find one instance of opera being the chosen genre of torturers. While some Speedway employees referred me to corporate (still waiting to hear from corporate), two did offer explanations. Both are also giving customers a dose of Puccini and Pagliacci on a regular basis. As is the Speedway at the intersection of Erie Avenue and I Street in Juniata. I’ve confirmed that the Speedway gas station at 1801 West Hunting Park Avenue in the Nicetown section of Philadelphia is doing so. This isn’t the only Speedway in Philadelphia broadcasting opera from external speakers. My opera friend (everybody needs at least one) says there was some José Carreras thrown in at one point. Soon, the parking lot was treated to what I’m pretty sure was Maria Callas followed by Pavarotti. “My guess? Rienzi.” (One of Wagner’s early operas.) “The chromaticism of the first half makes me think of Wagner,” was his opera-nerd reply. So I texted a tiny snippet to an opera-loving friend who, coincidentally, lives near said Speedway. More because I am, like the vast majority of Americans, not an opera buff. I can’t tell exactly what I’m hearing from those speakers. All transactions are done through one of those sliding drawers, not that dissimilar to the one employed by Hannibal Lecter and Agent Starling in Silence of the Lambs. It’s coming from some caged-in white speakers on the outside of the Speedway’s convenience store, a store you can’t walk into. From the right, though, I’m getting something much different. You may have to select a menu option or click a button.From the left, I am getting an earful of Young Jeezy’s “Lose My Mind” emanating from a Grand Marquis at the pump, the gut-punching prominence of the song’s synth bass line suggesting a substantial subwoofer system. ![]()
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